Session Transcripts and Analysis

Analysis of a Counseling Session: A Practicum Experience

Section I: Description of client

Shelly is a 26-year-old single Italian female who is working full-time as a teacher and is also a part-time graduate student. She came into counseling today well groomed and casually dressed. Her speech was normal and her thought process appeared to be relevant and coherent. At opening, she reported feeling “okay” but had some concerns she wanted to share. Shelly’s affect appeared congruent with her behavior.

Shelly attends counseling one time per week for 45 minutes a session. This is her sixth session in counseling and is preparing to terminate session in two weeks. She has no prior history of counseling or psychiatric treatment and is currently diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood. Counseling was self-initiated, although she reported family members More

Session Transcripts/ Session Transcripts and Analysis

Counseling-Client Rapport: Breaking Down A Video Taped Session

Description of Client In Counseling

The client who is identified here as Shelly, is a single 26 year old Italian American female. She came in to counseling casually dressed and her grooming was clean and appropriate. This is Shelly’s first time to counseling. She was initially experiencing high levels of anxiety, anger, and sadness due to the loss of her 4- year romantic relationship to a man. These symptoms persisted for about two weeks after the break-up and therefore, affecting her sleeping, eating, and work patterns. Shelly was engaged to this man for 2 years of the 4-year relationship and recently found out that he had been unfaithful in the relationship. She then terminated their engagement. Shelly did appear to be angry and guarded during the intake session. She also explained that she was experiencing worry about her current financial situation. As Shelly described, the ex-fiancé charged her accounts and she is unable to keep up with payments. She is currently indebted $30,000.

As it appears, Shelly is extremely dependent on her relationship emotionally, mentally, and financially. She has a strong support system with her family; however, it appears that she extremely dependent on her family. In fact, she moved back in with her family and they have initiated to move her things out of the apartment for her.

Shelly denies any suicidal and homicidal tendencies but is feeling “guilty” because her ex-fiancé threatened More

Session Transcripts/ Session Transcripts and Analysis

Counseling Transcription: Interpretations of a Counselor in Training

Counseling Session Transcription

Suzie: So, yesterday I get home after a long day at work and I check my email….. and there is an email from this guy I hooked up with like….17 years ago….something like that.

Counselor: Wow.

Suzie: That’s kinda like….. what I was like, I was like Wow! I was like really excited!

Counselor: Wow. Okay… so you felt excited?

Suzie: I did. I felt really exited and I was like…. I felt sort of guilty about feeling excited because I’m like….. hello I’m married almost 10 Years. But, somebody was obviously paying some kind of attention to me. I have not talked to this guy. I haven’t seen this guy…. this guy is really like Joe random out of the blue…. like nothing from him for 17 Years ago.

Counselor: Okay.

Suzie: And I’m so flattered. I mean it wasn’t that big of a deal ….the email… whatever but, I’m so flattered that I almost wish that… that random email….. that act would have been from my husband but it wasn’t. And I got off on the fact that it was from this guy.

Counselor: Okay.

Suzie: It could have been any guy. It could have been any guy.

Counselor: So it sounds like your feeling overwhelmed with all the different roles you are playing.

Suzie: Definitely. Uh huh….. More

Session Transcripts and Analysis

An Analysis of an Interview: Breaking Down Your First Counseling Session

The following is a practice 20-minute counseling session with a client. The session was audio taped and a portion of the interview is transcribed. This post includes background information on the client as well as a critique of the techniques the counselor used. The actual session is described and a thorough analysis and evaluation of the session is provided.

Section I: Description of Client

Suzie is a married, White, 34 year-old female who is working full-time and going to graduate school part-time. She currently has no biological children or stepchildren. She is Jewish although she considers herself not really religious. Suzie’s biological parents are still living and are both Jewish as well. She was raised in an upper middle class family and her current socioeconomic status is middle class. Her parents divorced when she was four years old. At 17 years her mother remarried and Suzie lived with her mother and stepfather until she was 24 years old when she got married. Suzie has a younger half sister who is now 16 years old. Suzie was born and raised in Clifton, New Jersey and currently owns a condominium with her husband in Clifton. She has no apparent or acquired developmental disabilities although she reports she was morbidly obese two years ago before she underwent gastric bypass surgery. She now weighs half of what she used to and is able to ambulate freely. Before she lost weight she was almost wheelchair bound More

Diversity Counseling/ Session Transcripts and Analysis

Reflections on a Movie: Boys Don’t Cry

Boys Don’t Cry: A Film Critique

Boys Don’t Cry (1999) written by Kimberly Pierce, was based on true life events about the life and death of Brandon Teena, a transgendered individual who lived in Nebraska as a male until it was discovered that he was biologically a female, and was killed in December of 1993. When evaluating the gender based behaviors displayed in this film, initially I made note of its title. This title could be descriptive of a consensus in society that not crying was equivalent to masculinity. Therefore, expression of feeling is a sign of vulnerability and men aren’t supposed to be weak. The over exaggerated masculine behaviors such as the brawls and aggression depicted in this film were clear statements representing the invincibility of a man. Along with the general idea the men are of a privileged class, are the specifics of male vs. female behavior, societal norms, and how much of it is still the same fourteen years later.

Gender-based observations

The movie opened up with Teena cutting her hair short. A short haircut symbolizes maleness. She was now Brandon.
Brandon, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes at a bar (acceptable male behavior) approached Candace and asked her name. This is what men do when they are interested in a female. It is typical for a man to initiate conversation with a female.
Candace giggled when approached by Brandon. She seemed soft and shy. Women are expected to be submissive to advances from a man.
Wearing the male persona, Brandon asserted his respect when another man sat in his chair while he stepped away for a minute at the bar. Men are territorial. That was his space and his woman. He reacted as was expected with physical aggression for disrespecting his space. A brawl broke out at the bar.
Lana wears long red hair with long red fingernails. This is representative of acceptable female behavior. This may be the clear boundary that represented her as the female in the relationship.
Brandon doing push-ups while he’s in jail. Physical strength means power. Males are physically stronger than females.

Gender-based interactions

The interactions between men were somewhat verbally and physically aggressive and demeaning toward women. For example, there was a scene when John was talking to Brandon about Lana and within the same conversation he slapped Brandon across the backside of his head perhaps as a social gesture that meant men can take anything. Men also bragged about their brushes with the law. In fact, there was one scene when Tom was talking about a crime that he committed and Brandon responded by saying, “That’s cool.” It was cool to steal cars. This exaggerated masculinity as manifested by the criminal acts meant being fearless and showing this off amongst each other. In addition, there was a scene during Brandon’s birthday where John told him he was giving Lana to him as a birthday gift, as if she were a trophy, an object that can be tossed around between men. Women were prizes and John basically told Brandon he had earned Lana while also making a note that he could take her back when he said right after he gave the gift, “But remember, this is my house.”

Women were more passive and supportive of each other. It seemed as if they had each other’s back. There were no scenes that demonstrated aggression of women towards each other like some of the interactions between men. An example might be when, John took Candace’s car and left the rest of the group stranded, including Tom. Eventually, John came back and Lana told her friend to hop in the car because John was going to take them to work. There was no scene that showed what the conversation between Lana and John but one can guess that she convinced him to go back to at least pick up her friend so that they can make it to work.

When women and men interacted, the power that men felt they had over women was apparent throughout the movie. Men felt they could cross boundaries with women whenever they wanted. For instance, in one scene John just walking into Lana’s room without knocking and although Lana briefly asserted her discontent with this action she hugged him when he told her all he wants to do was to protect her, as if she couldn’t do it alone.

Sexual, political and societal tension

Societal tension was clearly depicted when almost everyone was having a difficult time consuming the idea that Brandon was biologically a girl, but behaved like a boy. When he was discovered, he was referred to as an “it.” He was asked by John, “What are you?” This was as if what he was doing was inhumane. People were disgusted by Brandon’s actions and even forced his femininity by calling him Teena and raping him. They rationalized there internalizations by saying it was because he was a liar, when it reality it had more to do with Brandon being “different.” The low tolerance to this difference was also demonstrated by the label of “lesbian” that Lana received as a result of dating Brandon. Labels of “faggot” and “dike” were also used throughout to film which is representative of a culture not ready to accept someone who didn’t meet the status quo.

When the two guys discovered Brandon was a women, their reactions were that the only possible path for gender identification was either as a woman or man therefore implying that other gender identities simply cannot exist.

Issues regarding race and class

The entire film represented Whites. There were times that people in the film would be referred to as “White trash.” Falls City seemed like they were low tolerant overall with diversity. If you are not White and heterosexual, you didn’t belong there. Mainstream heterosexual power was clearly demonstrated when Brandon was violated both when his genitalia was exposed to the world, and when he was raped.

In addition there is the question of color. If the rape had been carried out by people of a different color, would things have taken a different course? Would the men have been immediately arrested as opposed to being called to come into the police station in the morning?

Music in the film

The movie depicted a variety of songs that could be masculine, feminine and androgynous. I think as the movie evolved, the music became more feminine. For example, most of the music presented in the beginning of the film represented masculinity as Brandon took on the male role. The music early in the film was raw, thrilling, and hard core. There was something edgy and powerful about it as if it were saying, “here I am, a man and powerful.”

Midway through the film when it was noted that Lana and Brandon were in love and they grieved the fact that Brandon will have to leave for a few days, there was a song about a male and female who missed each other – the first song I had heard during the moving that actually had a female voice in it.

Interestingly the movie closed with the same song, and only song sung by a female, that Lana and her friends sang at the karaoke bar. I was unsure if the song they were singing was that of a female singer but I had the feeling that if was “girly” because they were singing it which such softness. As I listened to the words of the song during the films last scene, it was about a woman and her insecurities and vulnerabilities: the idea of being lonely and scared, which typically men are not supposed to feel. This was clearly a “girly” song.

Thoughts about then and now

What I think makes this movie interesting in terms of observing gender specifics is the fact that this woman was not a conventional “lesbian” Her role was that of a male so as to not cause chaos in the norms of gender roles. She wanted to leave each role (female and male) unbroken.

Also it is obvious that there are “cultural laws” that state and regulate what sexuality means and Brandon was treated as if he had broken the law. When he was reporting to the officer, instead of being treated like the victim, he was victimized and harassed because “she” hung out with boys and kissed girls. The real issue of rape was trivialized because her “difference” was too big to understand. This was quite evident in that John and Tom were not immediately arrested.

It is apparent today how male privilege is still active. The female body in this movie was depicted as something that was easily violated and true masculinity in power showed how Brandon, as a female, was weak and submissive. With this they wanted to show that they are “men” and they have power to do as they please because a female is supposed to conform. This was reassertion of male dominance over women. Although it is manifested differently today, women are still being violated sometimes covertly as in crimes against women, and sometimes discretely as when women make less money in the same type of employment as a man. This movie clearly depicts the oppression of women, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals. It completely sensitized me to how cruel societal rules can be on people who are not privileged. Seeing it through the lens of Brandon help me understand how important it is for me to be a multicultural competent counselor.

Session Transcripts and Analysis

A Movie Analysis for A Counseling Student

In analyzing the movie Ordinary People, the first thing that struck me was how dull the environment looked. All I kept thinking was that if I was that client, it could have added on to the suicidal thoughts. It was just plain depressing. However, the psychiatrist greeted him in a welcoming way, I thought. He started off with universalizing the fact that all the people who go there seem to try the wrong door. I believe that although the psychiatrist was not too warm in his presence, at least that comment could have been an ice breaker that may have eased the initial anxiety he may have been experiencing.

One of the things that struck me was how this psychiatrist had the presence of an “ordinary person.” I think that many people seem to expect this perfect being and here was this psychiatrist that may have been seen by Conrad as just as “crazy” or not, as the rest of us. He smokes too which makes him again just “normal.” However, what was not normal for me was the fact that this therapist smoked in front of Conrad during session. What if Conrad was allergic to smoke or didn’t care to be around second hand smoke. In essence, this therapist may have also been placing Conrad’s health at jeopardy. It was kind of like a double standard.

The session started off somewhat judgmental and non empathic. One of the first questions the therapist asked was if Conrad had money. That question alone may make a client feel that what is of importance is the money and I would think that it would be difficult to influence someone in a positive way if they think is that getting paid takes precedence; even though, I know it is important for the therapist. I think he could have somehow asked him differently. Perhaps something like, “I know therapy can get be expensive and I’m wondering if you have given that some thought.” This may have prompted the client to give information about his means for payment and perhaps some insight into the socioeconomic status of the client.

In thinking about the psychiatrist’s approach I thought that perhaps he was confrontational and didn’t leave Conrad with much room to analyze things at first. For example, he told the client that he likes to be in control and that he, the therapist, was not big on that. This statement could have been misconstrued as placing the therapist in the driver seat. Conrad already told him he was not feeling like he was in control and if the therapist is going to take charge and not allow the client to experience some level of control then that could have ruined the relationship; although, I think that in this particular case, this approach may have been implemented in an effort to get Conrad to react since he wasn’t allowing himself to feel. Perhaps the therapist continued to strip him off his power to get him to realize that he needs to really face what is going on which was that he was his worse critique. The problem wasn’t what happened; the problem was the thoughts of guilt he was experiencing. He was experiencing these irrational thoughts.

Additionally, I noticed that the therapist asked too many “Why” questions. That could have been a roadblock to communication between the two of them. Conrad was already feeling guilty and this form of probing and questioning could have made Conrad feel more defensive or labeled. However, as the session progressed I saw more empathy from the therapist. He began to use more reflecting methods such as empathic echoing and supporting sounds. He started to allow Conrad to take a little more control of the sessions and therefore, it looked like he was utilizing a mixture of confrontation and person centered approaches. I think that when he noticed that Conrad was beginning to show some emotion he stopped telling him what was wrong and started listening to what Conrad felt because at that point he was ready to open up.

I saw mixture of confrontation, rational emotive, gestalt, and person centered approaches during the sessions. I think this psychiatrist was echoing some of the things Conrad was saying to make him realize what he was saying and therefore, thinking about himself. He even asked Conrad the question “How long are you going to punish yourself?” I think this statement put everything into perspective for Conrad because the thoughts he was having were how he was punishing himself. The thoughts were making him feel suicidal. He also mirrored Conrad a lot and this made him come out of this passive world he was living in. Conrad actually began to confront people about things particularly his mother which he never did before.

In analyzing the multicultural sensitivity however, I believe this psychiatrist was not sensitive to Conrad’s age. He kept calling him “Kido” almost implying that he is superior and perhaps older and wiser. I don’t think this was a good tactic. This is a power approach and it doesn’t always work well. I think maybe because Conrad was so used to sitting back and watching things happen it didn’t affect the therapeutic relationship. Perhaps there was some transference in that Conrad’s mother seemed to treat him as if he was inferior. But, whatever the case was, this psychiatrist and Conrad bonded and they even disclosed this bonding to each other when they both said they were each other’s friend. I think this was important for Conrad to hear since he was lacking support systems.

Session Transcripts and Analysis

Analysis of an Audiotaped Interview with a Client: Difficulties in Adjusting

The following is a practice 30-minute counseling session with a client. The session is audio taped and 8 minutes of the interview is transcribed. This paper includes a description of the client including the history and presenting problem. Additionally, the session will be described and analyzed in terms of the techniques and interventions utilized and how the client responded.

Section I: Description of Client

Jackie is a 30-year-old Latina female who is currently in a Graduate School. She currently lives alone. She came dressed casually and is appropriately groomed in no apparent distress. She appears to be her stated age and is of average height and weight. During the interview, this client appeared slightly anxious but composed.

Jackie sought out counseling because she experienced the loss of her live-in boyfriend whom she resided with for four years. She has no past psychiatric or medical conditions but stated that she has family members who are diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression. According to the client, she believes her father is suffering from depression and has been for many years but he is not receptive to treatment. Additionally, he abuses alcohol but she doesn’t feel he is currently dependent on it. Jackie’s mother divorced her father approximately four years ago. This is when she and her now ex-boyfriend decided to move in together.

Jackie experienced this loss approximately five months ago and she decided to seek out counseling because she was feeling increasingly sad and was unable to remain focused at work and in school.

Section II: Description of the Session

The session took place in Jackie’s home in her kitchen. Her home appeared to be cluttered and when I arrived and I wasn’t sure where we would meet for session. Jackie eventually moved her piles from her kitchen table and made room for us to meet. At first, it seemed a bit uncomfortable because I felt the messy surroundings were distracting and making me scattered. Jackie was friendly to me but initially was unable to focus on our meeting. She consistently tried to engage me in small talk, which I attributed to her anxiety. I politely asked her if we would please begin and she agreed.

As I had suspected, something was on Jackie’s mind. She informed me she saw her ex-boyfriend at the ski slopes this past weekend. She had not seen him since he “walked out” on her. This is a place they frequented together and I had a hunch that perhaps she purposely went there to see him. To her surprise, she saw her ex-boyfriend speaking to another girl and this made her emotional perhaps shooting down the idea that they might attempt to rekindle their romance.

I believe the approach I used was more of a person-centered approach by attempting to guide her to always be the “driver.” I think she responded well. For example, one of her strengths is that she was insightful enough to realize she does not cope well with stress and that she allows her frustrations to dictate her behaviors. She independently decided to make a change realizing that she needed to “find herself again.” This is referring to the idea that she had given up her control to this person in her life so deeply that she was not able to recognize herself any more.

I utilized a lot of empathy during our session and I believe this worked for her because part of her problem is her feeling of inferiority and not being respected or wanted. I think I allowed for an atmosphere of understanding and she appreciated it to the point where she began to realize certain things about herself on her own. She was able to experience a sense of control.

Because she made reference to her father and ex-boyfriend ignoring her I thought the utilization of empathic echoing was allowing her to experience acceptance because she was listened to and remained an important person in this process. This is something she lacked in her previous relationships. I also utilized a lot of affect by asking her consistently about her previous feelings and current ones, including how she felt about our relationship.

The parallel she was making between her ex-boyfriend and her father is something that she concluded. She knew that the old issues with her father’s neglect surfaced; however, when I approached her about her father, she resisted. I thought I might lose her and I did want to explore the issue with her father a little more. However, I respected that she was not ready to go there and allowed her to continue in the driver’s seat.

I don’t know that silence worked well for her. A lot of times it took a while to figure out what I was going to say or ask; therefore, there were many periods of silence. I noticed this made her uneasy and at times I would find myself asking the same questions in different ways because I needed to buy more time. I did not want her to feel like I was inadequate or that she had to fill in the moments of silence. She had already started the session with some anxiety about seeing her ex-boyfriend with another girl so I believe that based on my observations, this made her uncomfortable.

I implemented many techniques of exploration and elaboration. For example, I utilized a lot of questions in my session. Most of our dialogue consisted of open-ended questions. She responded well to the questions and didn’t seem to want me to give her all the answers. I attended both physically and psychologically which I thought was well appreciated since her issue was feeling ignored and rejected. I think the bulk of my approach consisted of reflection, prompts, and empathy. This empowered her to maintain the position to recognize things in herself. Additionally, the use of validation was implemented to motivate her to accept change.

I believe it was easy for me to be culturally sensitive because the client and I shared similar demographics in terms of ethnic background, age, and education level. At times, I feel working with a client who is extremely different than me will put me at less ease because part of my session will require a conscious effort to be cultural sensitivity.

Click Here for the transcript of the session

Section IV: Overall Evaluation and Comments

I enjoyed meeting with Jackie. I feel comfortable with people who allow me to guide them as opposed to clients who want me to give them the answers. She was extremely accepting of taking the lead, which goes well with my style of counseling. I think in the future I would explore her relationship with her father and perhaps recognize how it may all tie into her current use of coping mechanisms. The most difficult thing for me right now is implementing a non-repetitive flow of questions. I was not sure if my client was aware but when I listened to the tape, I noticed I asked a lot of the same questions, which she had already given me answers to. This could be misconstrued as me being a poor listener or non- accepting and/or needing to test. I think in order to meet those challenges I would need to be more genuine with my client and just let the client know when I’m stuck. I think that my fear of inadequacy places me in a situation where I need to carry-on the front of just flowing according to plan. I definitely need a lot more practice. When I decided to major in this field I had no idea how difficult it really is to “get paid just to talk to people.” It is a lot more complicated than I had anticipated but I am finding that I am also learning about myself in the process. I assume this is the “awareness” as a starting point that I keep hearing in my counseling classes.